As many of you will know the recent bad weather has caused massive disruption to the postal system.

It has been brought to our attention that there are big backlogs at both Royal Mail and Parcel Force depots and it’s possible that some shipments will not be delivered in time for Christmas.

We have emailed all customers were applicable tracking numbers for their parcels. (Last two days). This will allow you to check the status of your order and make arrangements to collect from delivery depots on the 24^th if the drivers are unable to reach you.

Please see below press releases from Parcel Force and Royal Mail.

Parcel Force - Service update – Wednesday 23rd December

The very heavy snowfall across much of Scotland overnight has severely impacted our vehicles in and out of Scotland during the night.  As a result, we will only be able to undertake minimal deliveries today of parcels collected in Scotland yesterday for delivery across the UK and of parcels due for delivery in Scotland today.  We have also had to suspend collections across the majority of Scotland today.

Also, the continuing freezing conditions in many other parts of the UK is still making deliveries and collections very difficult.  This is particularly the case in outlying rural areas and many residential areas where the roads remain untreated.  There are particular problems in some areas of Kent, areas around Oxford, Reading and Aldershot, the North West around Preston and Carlisle and areas around Welwyn Garden City and Luton to the north of London.

We are obviously working very hard to make as many deliveries as we safely can, but it is expected that there will still be some disruption to deliveries today.

Our priority is to ensure that we deliver all parcels on hand in time for Christmas and as a result there are a number of postcode areas where we will be unable to perform collections on Wednesday 23rd December.  These are as follows:

AL1-10, BA5-6, BA16 & BA20-22, BD13-15, BD20, BD22 & BD23-24, BR1-8, BS6, BS37 & BS39-40, CA1-28 & CA95, CB1-11, CH3, CH4 & CH6-8, CO1-16, CR0, CR2-3, CR5 & CR8, CT1-21, DA1-18, DG1-14 & DG16, DL6-15, DN1-12, DN14-22 & DN55, E1, E3, E4, E6, E7, E10-18, EN7-11, HD3-4 & HD7-9, HP1-8 & HP16-23, HX2 & HX 6-7, IG1-11, IP1-23, IP28-33 & IP96, KT16, KT20 & KT23-24, L39-40 & L67-75, LA1-10 & LA11-23, LL11-49 & LL51-78, LS14, LS16-21, LS23-25 & LS27-29, LU1-7, M1-35, M38, M40-41, M43-46, M50, M60, M90 & M99, ME1-20, MK1-19, MK40-46 & MK77, NN12-13, OL1-16 & OL95, PE1-4, PE6-7, PE13-16, PE19, PE26-29 & PE38, PO1-22 & PO30-41, RG1-2, RG4-10, RG12, RG21-31, RG40-42 & RG45, RM1-20, S1-14, S17-18, S20-21, S25-26, S32-33, S35-36, S40-45, S49, S60-66, S70-75, S80-81 & S96-98, SA48 8 & SA43 3, SG1-19, SK1-8, SK12-16 & SK22, SN8-9, SO14-24, SO30-32, SO40-43, SO45 & SO50-53, SP1-4 & SP9-11, TN1-40, TS12-14, WF4, WF8, WF12, WF14, WF15 & WF17, WN1-8, YO14-18, YO21-22, YO61-62, and all postcodes starting with BB, BL, BN, FY, PR and RH, along with the majority of postcode areas in Scotland.

We sincerely apologise for inconvenience caused by this disruption.

Royal Mail Dear Customer,

As you’re probably aware, severe weather conditions including heavy snowfall are affecting parts of the country today. As someone who has opted to receive information about disruption to services, we’re writing to you to let you know how the weather is affecting some parts of our UK mail network.

In most parts of the country, mail services are operating normally. In the areas affected by heavy snowfall, we are maintaining mail services wherever possible and it is safe for us to do so.

Information about mail delivery services

Deliveries in most of Northern England have been taking place as usual today. However, deliveries in some rural parts of North East and North West England have been disrupted today. Where road conditions have been impassable, we may not have not been able to perform normal deliveries. Additionally in some areas where delivery has been possible, volumes of mail may have been lighter and delivery times later than usual.

We will resume normal mail deliveries in all areas as soon as we possibly can. As is usual at this time of year, we plan to be out delivering over the weekend to assist with seasonal mail volumes and are completely committed to getting mail to customers as quickly as possible.

Information about mail collection services

Today, we will collect mail from customers wherever it is safe and possible to do so, although collection times may be subject to some changes. In areas where we have been unable to deliver today or where snow has made driving conditions dangerous, we may not be able to collect from you as we usually do.

In Yorkshire and the North East these are, in the main, rural areas surrounding Bradford (BD), Huddersfield (HD), and Sheffield. Some collections may not be possible in York (YO), Harrogate (HG), Ilkley, Otley and Wetherby. In the North East, collections may not be possible in rural parts of Teeside (TS), Darlington (DL), Durham (DH) and Newcastle (NE).

In the North West, collections will be made in almost all areas. In rural areas around Buxton and Macclesfield (SK), Rossendale in the BB postcode area and rural parts of the CA and LA postcode areas some collections may not be possible.

If we are unable to collect from you but you need to get mail into our network the following alternatives are available. Mail can be taken to any Post Office® as we will be endeavouring to pick up from Post Office branches. To find your nearest branch, visit http://www.postoffice.co.uk/branchlocator . You can also, hand mail over at one of our regional mail centres if you can get there safely. Please click here for the mail centres in your region and their acceptance times. Alternatively you can hold on to your mail and we will plan to collect all mail as usual on Monday 21st December.

We have established contingency plans in operation and we will continue to keep mail services running normally wherever it is safe and possible to do so.

For more information about mail services in your area, please go to our website http://www.royalmail.com/serviceupdates. Alternatively, you can call your usual Royal Mail contact or the Business Service Helpline on 08457 950950.

Further snowfalls are forecast today and over the weekend. We’ll continue to work hard to keep normal services running for customers and if the situation changes, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Regards,

Royal Mail Customer Services

If you fancy venturing into the realms of off-road racing then have a close look at the Stinger EB-1 1/10th Buggy and Stinger EST-2 1/10th Truggy.

This new range of models from Step Up is specifically targeting entry level enthusiasts.

Anyone new to the sport will invariably have a few accidents along the way as they master the controls and driving skills needed to keep one of these on four wheels, so areas such as the wishbones, hub carriers and steering blocks are all interchangeable, and so acquiring replacement parts is made that much easier. No more risking buying the wrong part!

The EB-1 buggy builds upon a tough chassis with the crash-proof front end featuring a rugged bulkhead flexible enough to reduce the risk of serious damage.

Initially available as electric models, composite, oil filled shocks come as standard along with an RC radio system and electronic speed controller, RTR in fact!

Buyers can even choose from a choice of pre-printed body shells.

If you want to take it into the racing arena, then be aware that Step Up intends to release a wide range of options that will ultimately allow you to take performance to the next level.

Keep an eye out for these models in your local RC cars hobby shop.

Ultimate Racing is offering a range of Pro Racing bearings which should meet the needs of the most demanding of RC car drivers.

These bearing kits have been manufactured to complement and ensure you get the best out of all of your cars moving parts.

All bearings look to keep friction to an absolute minimum to maximize performance and with each bearing coming with 2 different seals, the internal made from steel to keep friction to a minimum and the outer seal made from rubber, the new design seals the bearing from water and dirt while still promoting free running.

The bearing sets are available as full sets for Associated, Mugen, Kyosho and Losi buggies and come lubricated with quality, high grade Teflon grease.

The Ultimate Racing brand was created in 1999 by Modelix Racing. Their objective being to offer high quality alternatives and solutions for 1/8th nitro racers.

Drawing on the knowledge and experienced of RC racers, their designers have ensured that Ultimate Racing is now recognised, respected within the industry and above all, is now synonymous with RC racing in the 1/8th scale nitro market.

Their race team includes pedigree racers Rob Batlle, the 2007 Nitro Off-Road European Champion and David Totorici the 2006 Italian
Off-Road champion, so they know how to win!

Good News - We have just received a large HSP spares shipment. The vast majority of HSP spares are now in stock, along with aluminium upgrades.

We have spares in for the following HSP RC Cars:

HSP 94103 - 1/10 Electric On-Road Car

HSP 94123 - 1/10 Electric Drift Car

HSP 94111 - 1/10 Brontosaurus Electric Off Road Truck

HSP 94107 - 1/10 XSTR Electric Off Road Buggy

HSP 94166 -1/10 Backwash Nitro Off Road Buggy

HSP 94081 - 1/8 Bazooka Nitro Off Road Buggy

HSP 94286 - 1/16 Kingliness Nitro Off Road Truck

HSP 94285 - 1/16 Meteor Nitro Off Road Buggy

HSP 94188 - 1/10 Monster Nitro Off Road Truck

HSP 94102 - 1/10 Pacesetter Nitro On-Road Car

HSP 94086 - 1/8 Rapido Nitro On-Road Car

HSP 94282 - 1/10 Starpace Nitro On-Road Car

HSP 94083 - 1/8 Tornado Nitro Off Road Truck

You can find all parts from the Spares section on the left hand menu.

For the serious racer, the standard kits that come with RC cars will invariably not be enough.

Some may elect to simply throw money at their hobby to try and buy the fastest, most efficient performance parts and accessories, whilst others may perhaps design and build their own racer from scratch using bespoke parts and accessories.

Italian company Picco, famous for their engines, has now started a new line of optionals called ‘P-Zero optional parts’.

The first product offered in the line is the lightweight transmission kit for the Mugen MRX-4 1/8th scale, the car which the company head, Alberto Picco, used to win the recent world warm up race.

Even better for owners of Kyosho M3 (apart from solid rear axle models) is the fact that this lightweight transmission kit can also be fitted to their cars.

The kit comes with the front and rear axles, four wheel nuts, two front drive cups, the rear solid axle and a set of eight shims.

All the machined parts are made from high quality materials to ensure the best match with the current drive shafts.

One of the next things on the horizon for the P-Zero line will be a 1/8th scale on-road clutch.

Nine years old and she is a seriously good RC racer already.

Amelia Batty from Silsden has recently finished in third place in the European Championship junior class for remote control cars.

The event took place in Leicester and attracted more than 60 adults and juniors with competitors coming from as far away as Holland and Belgium, to name just a few.

Amelia has only been racing RC cars for about 18 months, making it an even more astounding performance.

Dad was the corner stone in her development and progress as he has been a keen RC racer for many, many years, since well before Amelia was born in fact.

Mr Batty says: “I got interested in remote control race cars because I couldn’t afford one of the full-size ones!”

Amelia and her dad are members of the Northern Oval Racing Affiliation, based at Marley stadium in Keighley which has also recently hosted the sport’s English Open Championships.

There are well over 200 RC car clubs around the country which will more than welcome anyone wishing to take up the sport and race their cars around their tracks.

Most are operated on a non-profit basis with the members all helping out so it really is a bit of a family atmosphere where parents, children; the young and old will be assured of a warm welcome.

And who knows, your child might be able to emulate Amelia’s fantastic achievement

HPI Racing has now launched the sleek, smooth looking Toyota Supra Aero body.

This HP Racing version takes the infamous twin turbo Supra to the next level with its custom aero body panels making it perfect for drifting, racing, and even that high performance street racing.

The new body fits the standard 200mm touring cars chassis but can also be used on 190mm touring cars with the use of wide offset wheels.

The Toyota Supra Aero body comes with two large pre-cut decal sheets, window lines, headlights, grilles, tail lights, official Toyota Supra logos and much more.

Each body comes with a molded nylon 3-D rear wing, as well as light buckets for the headlights and tail lights. An overspray film is included, along with vinyl window masks to make painting quick and simple. With the body manufactured as a clear item, would be artists are free to display their artistic tendencies and design their own colour scheme and paint it absolutely any colour they want. Just imagine how cool it would be to custom airbrush your new RC body based on personal theme.

Something a bit different would be to see if there are any local businesses interested in buying some advertising space on your car. That would certainly make it different and stand out fm the crowd!

An instruction sheet is included for the decals, and the body has dimple marks for body post drill locations.

The former K O Grand Prix West London Racing Centre has now secured backing for the Ansmann GP annual event.

The event will be taking place at the West London Racing Centre on the August Bank Holiday weekend of Saturday the 29th to Monday the 31st of August 2009 with the objective of offering everyone an amazing weekend of racing with a friendly, yet competitive atmosphere.

If you have never attended this event in the past and live in the area or even fancy making the trip, make sure you don’t miss out this year, the West London team offer to pull out all the stops to make it a fantastic weekend.

There will be controlled (grouped by class) practice on Saturday followed by five rounds of qualifying (2 x best results counting) with finals decided by round over the Sunday and Monday.

Heats and finals will consist of up to ten cars.

As with all UK events, the format may have to be changed in the event of inclement weather.

There will be four Scale Saloon classes Plus a ‘Pan Chassis’ class GT10.

• Stock Touring… For 17.5 Brushless (27t Brushed) Minimum weight 1500grms…
• Super Stock… For 13.5 Brushless (27t Brushed) Minimum weight 1400grms…
• ProStock… For 10.5 Brushless (19t Brushed) Minimum weight 1400grms…
• Super Touring… For 5cell (No limit) or Li-Po 6.5 Minimum weight 1400grms…

For ALL classes only cells from the BRCA 2008/2009 lists may be used (Ni-Mh & Li-Po) and only motors ‘readily’ available through UK outlets are allowed for all classes.

1:10th Circuit Racing is probably the most popular scale for racing in both Britain and the across the world.
Races are competed on permanent outdoor tarmac race tracks with many tracks situated throughout the UK.
The attraction surrounds the fact that the 1:10th RC cars in this category look exceptionally good, drive very fast and it’s quite simply are easy to get hooked on.

There are predominantly two different types of race car for this category, the longest established of which is the slightly larger 235mm wide chassis cars which runs larger engines and have wider tyres to handle the extra power.

There are plenty of new drivers each year in this category and titles are always hotly contested.
With relatively few technical rules restricting modification, much of the skill required surrounds good driving skills at high speed which as everyone knows, is where the adrenaline rush comes in to it.

Body shells tend to be fairly simple in design, but offer extreme down-force and need little effort to get them working well straight out of the box.

The smaller 200mm wide RC car is the most popular car and is well supported by all major manufacturers worldwide.

They tend to be more realistic scale versions of actual cars, great to look at and even more fun to race!
This type of car tends to be the point at which IC cars and electric racing meet and you will often notice racers from both types pitting their wits and motors against each other, making it even more competitive as well as fun.

The 200mm RC cars have the flexibility to run on foam or rubber tyres so if you want to enjoy some good racing outdoors with friendly opposition, then get down to your local track/club and get it on.